


California Cutie

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: California Babe [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, Gift Fic, Healthy Relationships, M/M, Multi, Panpoly Tendo, Polyamory, Tendo-inna-Dress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 03:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3752155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tendo Choi adores exactly eight things; his five lovers, his cousin, his job in LOCCENT and wearing dresses. Besides, he looks good in heels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	California Cutie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [slightly_oblivvyous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightly_oblivvyous/gifts).



> Cross-posting from Tumblr because that was a fic that I enjoyed writing. Plus, who doesn't love Tendo-inna-dress poly fics? Never enough of them. 
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

**-May 23, 2022-**

Tendo isn't nervous. Nope. Not in the _least_ -Okay, so that last part is a lie. He smooths the edges of his dress with a slightly clammy hand that Alison plucks away and pats. 

"Look at me. You're a cutie and they won't be able to resist you in this. If they can't see you for who you are, well, they'll be meeting Thunder," Alison promises as she lifts her free fist to show it off. She lets go of his hand and he nibbles on his lower lip instead. "Go get 'em tiger!" She nudges him out of the door and he lifts his head as he walks down the hall. 

He does look good, that much he knows from the last few times he did to wear this to LOCCENT (three people asked him out on a date and neither Hermann nor Newt had been seen those days). The sharp click of the heels on the cement hallways is rather empowering as he makes his way towards K-Sci. Tendo enjoys the subtle and not-so-subtle looks sent his way but they're not what he wants. The ones he's after are in yet **_another_** argument but not about Kaiju. 

"I'm telling you, the rumor-mill is saying—H-Hey, Tendo." Newt scuffs his boots on the grating but gives him a soft smile. Hermann's eyes light up as they take Tendo in, the very rare Gottlieb grin making an appearance. "Are you off LOCCENT duty?"

"Uh-huh." He almost blurts it out but he does blush after he finishes. "I was wondering if maybe you two would take me out? For dinner." 

"Both of us?" Hermann asks as clarification. Tendo nods and crosses his feet at the ankle waiting for Newt to lose the dropped jaw. 

"I knew it!" Newt finally says as he pulls his hands out of the Kaiju guts he's currently in. "You know we're together, right?" 

"Yes," he hums as he waits for it to fully sink in. 

"... And you wanna date us both. Damn rumor was true." comes the faint reply. 

"My answer is yes but conditional to Newt's response." Hermann allows as he pulls up a chair to sit and massage his hip. 

"Dude, yeah. Lemme go change my shirt." 

Tendo smiles as the heavy weight lifts from his chest and there's a happy flutter in its place.

* * *

They take a taxi down to the waterfront with Hermann rattling off an address in near flawless Canto. Tendo gets out last, surprised when he finds that they're at a place he frequents. 

"Hello, Mr. Choi!" The waitress, Ming Lu, chirrups in English. Tendo hugs her to him, laughing when she tweaks the deep blue ribbon in his hair. "Did they say yes?" 

"Yeah." He's on cloud-nine and it obviously shows. Ming shouts back into the restaurant in slang Canto (which he only knows because he asked her once) and there's a resounding cheer from the staff. "You guys placed bets on me?" 

"No," she explains succinctly while leading him over to his usual table with her elbow linked with his, "We've been listening to your LOCCENT Techs sigh over how it wasn't fair you were so handsome and yet didn't glance their way. We knew you were after those two and you did it." 

"Oh. Well, I had some help from Ali." he acknowledges as he settles down into the booth. Newt and Hermann sit on either side of him but give him room to move if he wants. "My usual, please?" 

"Same here. I didn't know you came here," Newt says as he turns to Tendo. 

"They deliver to the 'Dome and Ming is a very attentive listener." He admits with a shrug. "It's a sucker bet but I think she and Ali teamed up on me." 

"Most definitely. Ming is one of the only delivery personnel to know her way to K-Science. She, well, she brought updates. We were going to ask you out on your birthday but LOCCENT had a personnel-only meeting that day." Hermann states with a wry tone. "May I say that you look incredibly beautiful in that dress?" 

"Thank you." Tendo blushes again and Hermann's brow rose. 

"Excuse me if this is a tad forward-Does that blush go further?" 

"Yes, yes it does." Tendo replies with his usual smile. Hermann practically purrs right then and there. "I'm sure you'd like to check but I've got a five-date no-sex rule." 

"You have boundaries. That's good. Anything else?" Newt asks as Ming sets down the first course of dim-sum dumplings. 

"A few things but they're not something I would discuss in public." Tendo remarks with a soft snicker. "So, what exactly is that rumor that's floating around?" 

"Oooo. Anyway, it goes like this..."

* * *

Both of them escort Tendo to his quarters after the date, pressing chaste kisses to his cheeks (one on each side). He waves before closing the door behind him and sliding down it with a happy sigh. 

So far so good. 

Newt brings him his coffee the next morning, giving him a light peck on the forehead as he monitors the sensors. 

"Any signs?" 

"Mmm-mm. Nothing so far but they're usually dispatched pretty quickly during May. No clue why that is." Tendo points out as he hooks a thumb under his suspender. "Never happens any other time aside from April or December." 

"I... might have an idea." Newt murmurs with a shake of his head. "Who's birthday is in those months?" 

"Mako's, Stacker's and mine. I don't see what you're getting at, Newt." Tendo rattles off before it clicks. "... Are we the sweethearts of the PPDC?" 

"Motivational emails and some well-done posters. You're wearing both your regular outfit and your black n white dress. Mako too. Stacker's is the one I find pinned up in the J-Tech areas." 

"Oh. Is it purely... aesthetics?" 

"Seems so. There's fan clubs though." 

"Wow. That's flattering and a little odd but I don't mind." Tendo decides with a snap of his suspender. "Do Mako and Stacker know?"

"The Marshal has an inkling but Mako doesn't know; probably too busy with the restoration anyway." Newt supplies as he switches out Tendo's empty cup for a full one absentmindedly. "I gotta get back to taking apart the one from Brisbane. It's a full liver today." 

"You go do that." Tendo presses a kiss to Newt's cheek as he leaves. He keeps an eye on the equipment as he Googles the motivational posters. The first one pulls a laugh from him as he sees it recreating the 'I Want You in the Army' posters except it's him in his favorite vintage dress with a cheesy smile.

* * *

Each successive date brings a sweeter smile to Tendo's face than anything else has in the last few years. He's humming 50s tunes in LOCCENT, careful not to crowd the comm.s between two or three Jaeger drops. 

"Kaiju signature lost. Nice work _Echo_. Good job _Crimson_." Tendo says to the teams, pushing the mic to the side as he sighs in relief before returning with his usual words. "Come on back for repairs and debrief." 

"Tendo, heard you landed your white horses." Jin teases in English. 

"Hey! Come say that to my face." he fires back, smiling as he tosses a sui mai stick into the garbage. 

"Was that... You made siu mai!" Jin whines and then Hu's complaining in Shanghai slang while Tendo hears Cheung sighing. 

"That's what you get for trash-talking my white ponies, jerk." Tendo replies with a snort as _Echo_ docks in Bay 3. "None for you." 

"But-But-" 

"No butts. Just delicious food not going in **your** tummy. Hu and Cheung still get some." He clarifies and grins at the whoops the other triplets give to Jin's despairing groan. "If you kiss my brand-new poster, maybe you can have some." 

"Poster? What poster?" 

"In my LOCCENT cubicle; y'know, those motivational posters? The one with me in my dress? Wonder where they got a picture from..." Tendo trails off and he hears dead silence coming from _Crimson Typhoon_. "Weis?" 

"Gonna kick that tech's ass. Be right back." Hu growls before the comm. goes out again. 

"Oh boy. I'll be right back," Tendo comments with some urgency before he hands off control to his SIC in time to see an irate Hu literally about to stab a blubbering tech with his elbow spike. "No, Hu. Despite the photo, I'm okay with being one of the many Shatterdome sweethearts." 

"You know about that?" Hu looks up to make sure, a stubborn moue on his face. 

"Newt told me a while back. You can let go of the tech now." Tendo carefully dislodges the man's shirt from Hu's grip and makes a shooing motion while he guides Hu back into the Drivesuit room. "Get out of the 'suit and you can have the siu mai waiting for you. Yeye's recipe too so be nice." 

"... Okay. Can I still kick him off of our tech team?" Jin asks as he's being taken out of the armor. 

"Ask the Marshal." Tendo pats Hu on the shoulder and just smiles when Hu gives him a hug. He returns it with a soft hum as he slips from the Wei hold to go see his lovers.

* * *

Hermann's staring at the chalkboard like he's going to kill it and Newt isn't much better as he stabs the same sample with a scalpel. Tendo gives his boys a loud wolf-whistle as he clicks across the floor in his pretty green pumps. 

"Break time." He grins as Hermann drops his chalk to hurry over to him as Newt's scalpel hits the dissection tray with a clatter. Kisses are peppered against his face as he laughs. "I have excellent timing as always. Did you know that the Weis are very defensive of my 'Dome sweetheart status?" 

"I do believe Rec Room 8 is a shrine to the three of you." 

"Yup. I saw it a while back. Made myself a little corner for Yeye and... I know he's still out there; still fighting. Stacker'll find him yet." Tendo sighs as he sits with Hermann and Newt. 

"Who?" Newt doesn't follow anything to do with the pilots. Never has and probably never will if his lover has an say in it. 

"Rals. He was like a brother to me back in the Golden Age. Best sort of kid brother; sweet, eager-to-please puppy of a kid. He might not be the same but... We need him. I have to dig up old Anchorage contacts, see what they say." Tendo clarifies with a slightly exasperated eye roll. 

"Then I hope they do find him. Your hunches are usually correct, darling, if somewhat early as far as predictions go." Hermann admits as he places a kiss square on Tendo's mouth. They pull apart with a soft -snik- as Newt sneaks in to give Tendo another kiss. "Are the Weis spending the night with you?"

"Mmm, yeah. Victory nights are nice. You two are really good about me and the boys." Tendo says quietly as he flushes at the mention of victory sex. 

"It's better to leave you free to do as you wish than to keep you to ourselves. You insist on tests done every two months, which means you're both thorough and very happy when you spend time with them." Hermann offers as he caresses Tendo's cheek. "A happy Tendo runs the Shatterdome better than a miserable one." 

"Thanks babe. Gotta go, Jin's probably stuffing his face with siu mai and not sharing." He replies as he leans into the touch, pulling away from them breathless and happy as they kissed him again. "Go have fun, hmm?" 

"We will darling."

* * *

The Weis are fantastic, being very gentle and soft, petting his hair after they've redressed in bedclothes. 

"Tendo?" It's Cheung, his fingertips drawing Chinese characters into Tendo's t-shirt covered shoulder. "Can I say something?" 

"Mmm." he hums lazily as Hu lays on his chest with Jin on the other side. "Sure." 

"You're happier." 

"Am I?" Tendo blinks at the comment, looking up at Cheung's face to gage his expression. 

"Yeah. You haven't made siu mai since our last drop with you in 2019 assisting Lucky and GD." Hu manages as he also traces characters on Tendo's stomach. "Drop before that it was pork buns."

"Oh. It's been a hectic year, baby dolls. Lots of stuff has happened but I'm getting back into the swing of things y'know?" he remarks as Jin presses lazy kisses against his neck. "They... They ground me because I can take care of them. They kiss me with just as much passion as you do. I love you equally." 

"We know," Jin murmurs as he cuddles closer. "You've got a lot of lovin' to give, ashao. We don't mind. Just wanted to tell you that you're smiling a little brighter." 

"I am the luckiest sonofagun." Tendo announces as he gets cuddled even more. 

His phone buzzes and Hu hands it over with with a pout, "If it's LOCCENT, tell them no. We're cuddling dammit." 

"'Snot." He reassures Hu as he reads the message. 

_**We love you. Your space is right where you left it, liebe. -H & N** _

"Mmm. Good t' know." Tendo yawns as he drift off to sleep surrounded by love.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, complain ect. pretty please!


End file.
